Patna: A year ago, he was talked of as a future prime minister of India. Today, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is finding it difficult to ensure the victory of his party’s candidate from his home district of Nalanda in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

Mr Kumar, who was elected in state elections in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party had broken off ties over the projection of Mr Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate last year.

This central Bihar Lok Sabha constituency has not elected any leader against the wishes of Mr Kumar in the past two decades. Either it was Mr Kumar himself who won, or his nominees did after he turned his attentions to state politics.

Socialist George Fernandes, who won the seat thrice, Ramswaroop Prasad and the present JD-U candidate Kausalendra Kumar won because they were blessed by the Bihar chief minister.

Mr Kumar’s clout over his fellow caste men in his home district, which is dominated by the Kurmi caste, was never in question but this time the scene looks entirely different. The ongoing protests at his election rallies, vociferous slogans of “Go back Nitish” and the assault on a candidate allegedly by his Janata-Dal (United) workers suggest the former strongman is losing his clout, and his supporters their cool.

Among Kausalendra Kumar’s opponents is a nominee of the Congress, Ashish Ranjan Sinha, who belongs to the Kurmi caste. If the caste vote gets split, the beneficiary may well be the Bharatiya Janata Party nominee.

Even though, five phases of the election in this state are left, Mr Kumar’s tone has turned defensive. At public meetings, he has told people that he would not compromise with his principles or go back to the BJP even if his party lost all seats. “Will the world come to a standstill or Bihar will come to a halt if my party does not win any seat?” asked Mr Kumar at a public function in Patna recently.

By arrangement with The Statesman